DR Congo cancel World Cup training camp over Ebola outbreak

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The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

The virus is thought to have killed more than 130, including a person whose case was confirmed on Thursday in the South Kivu province, signalling the spread of the virus from the outbreak's epicentre.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern", but said it was not at pandemic level.

A spokesperson for DR Congo's football team told reporters that the training camp, part of the preparations for the team's first World Cup since 1974, would now take place in Belgium.

Jerry Kalemo added that DR Congo's pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned.

The Leopards are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals.

They play their first match of the tournament in the US city of Houston on 17 June against Portugal.

"Originally scheduled to take place in the capital on May 26, the Leopards' public training session will not be held after all. This decision follows reports of suspected Ebola cases in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri," a message posted by the team on social media said.

There is also uncertainty over whether the team's French coach, Sébastien Desabre, will go ahead with a press conference scheduled to take place in the capital city, the statement added.

A spokesperson for the DR Congo team told the Reuters news agency that the training camp had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the US, who are hosting the World Cup this summer, along with Mexico and Canada.

The US's public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak.

All DR Congo's players are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled.

Some team staff based in DR Congo left the country on Wednesday, Kalemo told the Associated Press, ahead of the 21-day deadline.

However, some fans and journalists, who applied for US visas via the Congolese ministry of sport, are concerned because the US embassy in DR Congo has paused its visa services in light of the Ebola outbreak.

A sports reporter from the national broadcaster questioned why they should be stopped from attending the World Cup when there have not yet been any reported Ebola cases where they are based, in Kinshasa.

Kinshasa is roughly 1,800km (1,120 miles) away from the eastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

"Why should the whole country be banned?" the journalist asked.

Michel Nkuka Mbolandinga, a supporter who has gained prominence for impersonating former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, told the BBC: "I am confident that I will be travelling, but I don't know how far the ministry is with the applications."

The training camp in Kinshasa was supposed to have been attended by fans, along with President Félix Tshisekedi, according to the Reuters news agency.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people were thought to have died, out of 600 suspected cases. However, on the same day, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.

On Thursday, the M23 - a rebel group that controls parts of eastern DR Congo - said it had confirmed the first case of Ebola in the South Kivu province, which is hundreds of kilometres away from Ituri.

The 28-year-old, who had travelled from Kisangani, died before the diagnosis was confirmed, according to a rebel statement.

Kisangani is a large city in north-central Tshopo province where no Ebola infections have currently been recorded.

There are growing concerns about access to areas under M23 control.

The group has never managed a crisis like Ebola but it has said it will work with international partners to contain the virus.

The outbreak has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species and the WHO has said it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready.

Additional reporting by Richard Kagoe

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